Laying Down Plans for the Future

Editor’s note: The following article by Dan Keeton from the Winter 2004 issue of TRADEtalk, published by the British Columbia and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council, is reprinted below with their permission.

Local 2 BC tilesetter Greg Yoong, employed by Star Tile, laying floor tiles at the Concert Properties’ site in southeast Vancouver.

Greg Yoong expertly places another white tile on a bed of latex adhesive that covers a section of floor in an emerging apartment, turning bare, cold concrete into inviting living space. The tilesetter is one of five bricklayers and tilesetters working on the Concert Properties’ site in east Vancouver, British Columbia.

Yoong was born and trained in Malaysia before moving to Canada as a young journeyperson. He represents a trade in danger of vanishing from the B.C. construction scene. All those working this October morning are at least in their later forties; two are actually over the retirement age. The problem: there are too few new recruits to replace them.

Their union [BAC Local 2 BC], a local created from a merger of bricklayers and tilesetters, is aiming to turn that around. Another feature these workers share is their firm support of union membership. “You get better benefits, the pension is better and the quality is better,” asserted Yoong.

“Our company’s always been a union company and it always will be,” added Robert Scodellar, affixing patterned tiles to a bathroom wall. A 40-year veteran with Star Tile, he decried the proliferation of “fly-by-nighter” non-union firms. Some non-union tilesetters are good at their craft, he conceded, “But I think we’re more professional.”

Member Steve Scyrup laying tile in hallway.

Like many of their counterparts in the construction industry, those in the trowel trades have seen their share of troubles during the bad old days that followed the attack on building trades unions in the mid-’80s. The union sector was hit hard by hostile governments and labour laws. The non-union and anti-union sector displaced union trades workers on increasingly larger building projects.

But with the recent amalgamation of the two trowel trades into one bargaining unit, there are signs that things might be getting a lot better.
Last year [2003], two locals of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers [BAC Locals 1 and 3 BC] merged into BAC Local 2. The new local is the driving force behind a new trades training centre and is aggressively seeking new members in a full-time organizing drive. These developments address not only the future of the union, but of qualified trades training as well.

“Things certainly were different in the early ’80s. We had the lion’s share of the construction market,” recalled Rob Tuzzi, Local 2’s President. Expo ’86 and the attack on building trades’ union jurisdiction on the site by the Socred government of Bill Vander Zalm changed everything. “After ’86, it was a steady downhill ride.”

Non-union companies and those holding contracts with organizations such as the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) steadily encroached on former union-only work and even sucked away union members who put their membership cards in their shoes in order to keep working. But it wasn’t merely unions without a solid membership base that suffered. The future of the trades was also hard hit, resulting in the alarming shortages of skilled trades workers today, Tuzzi observed.

The non-union forces used the skills of the tradesworkers. “But they didn’t reinvest in training, marketing and promotion. The result today is a skills shortage.” That is now translating into higher wage bills for those who profited from the lower wages paid non-union workers, Tuzzi noted. “Those remaining can demand higher wages, and that’s what’s happening. They say, ‘Pay me two bucks an hour more or I’ll go somewhere else.’ Maybe those employers are starting to realize that a collective agreement is a two-way street.”

Member Don Inverson laying tiles in bathroom.

The new local gets a dues remission break from their International Union, and is using some of these resources for the new centre run by the Trowel Trades Training Association. The rest is being plowed into organizing.

The centre’s key purpose is to answer the crucial need to produce qualified trades workers in an expanding — some would say, exploding — construction industry where demand is only going to intensify with the approaching Winter Olympics in 2010. Right now, the average age in the trowel trades is about 47 years old. The retirees are starting to outnumber the apprentices.

The centre is a non-profit entity under the Societies Act. It opened last January [2003] with overwhelming support from all stakeholders in the construction industry. Financial support and supplies poured in from union and non-union contractors. Material and tool suppliers contributed some $140,000 worth of goods. Retired members donated their tools. While the local hopes that the quality of training will also show the students the value of union membership, “It’s not a union-only centre,” said Tuzzi. “It was never set up that way.”

Member Bob Hurliman sizing cement blocks for an elevator shaft.

Prior to the centre’s opening, Kwantlen College in Surrey was the sole source of training for the brick and tile trades. The trouble was, “it wasn’t able to meet the demand,” says Geoff Higginson, Local 2’s full-time organizer. There are too few spaces available and the college course lacks the flexibility the training centre is offering. “The skills assessment and upgrading is open to our members at all times,” he said. “We’re aiming for a continuous intake; apprentices won’t be limited to a set five weeks a year. We want to make the centre available for quick training in handling new materials.”

For the tilesetting course, the centre charges $200 tuition per term; each term involves 160 hours of classroom time and 640 hours of on-the-job training. There is no charge to potential apprentices who come to try out the tools and see if the trade is a good fit for them. Higginson related the recent case of a young woman who had sold tiles for years and decided she’d like to try the trade. “We had her on the saw, learning how cut a tile into a circle.” She liked it. “We’ll find a company for her to work for, and later she can start her training at the centre.”

Housed in the warehouse-like Painters’ building in the shadow of the Patullo Bridge along Surrey’s Fraser River waterfront, the centre offers training for working with brick, terrazzo, marble, and tile. It’s run by Local 2 Secretary-Treasurer and Training Coordinator Guy Zecchini, who said his aim is to make training conditions as much like real job situations as possible.

Organizer Geoff Higginson and Secretary-Treasurer and Training Coordinator Guy Zecchini at the training centre.

In the real world, “all walls are not plumb, all floors are not level,” Zecchini noted as he demonstrated how to use various instruments of the trade, including a plumb line and a water level (a water-filled transparent plastic hose of narrow gauge). Both devices ensure walls are level and tiles are properly lined up. The practice construction area can accommodate up to 12 apprentices who will train for five weeks in each of the three years it takes to become a journeyperson.

Around the site are stacks of polished granite, with its high density and resilience, and marble, with its porous delicacy and flowing lines. Terrazzo panels are a mix of cement, sand, and marble chips formed into a design. Zecchini displays a student’s artistry depicting a deer in a snowy clearing. “I’ve always thought that to be a real trades worker, you should have a little artistic flair,” said Zecchini.

This new centre replaces the former tilesetter training facility set up in 1995 and allows the Local to expand the scope of its training. But there are problems. Government funding allows for only four months of operation per year. And while employers are supposed to keep training apprentices on the job, many of the non-union contractors use their apprentices for general labouring. The result is that some get frustrated and drop out, Zecchini said.

“In the old days, the job sites were 85 percent union. There was lots of money around for training on the job. It isn’t that way now.”
The union provides specialized training, beyond what is required by provincial standards, for its own members in tile and brick. Other services such as bursaries are available to union members.

Member Robert Scodeller affixes shower tile.

Training and organizing, said Higginson, go hand in hand. “When the non-union folks come into the centre, they see the kind of leadership we provide in the industry.”

Higginson said he often approaches non-union workers to discuss the benefits of union membership. At other times, it’s the company that signs on with the union. “Sometimes organizing is bottom-up, other times it’s top-down,” says Higginson. “A blend of the two methods is best.”

Higginson said he has to deal with a lot of fear and misconceptions about unions. “The main thing is to let them do the talking. The key fear is that unionization might make their lives more difficult. They face a lot of pressure and coercive tactics [from employers].”

“I tell them that a contractor offering $25 an hour is not a good deal—not when there is no EI [Employment Insurance premiums paid] and CPP [Canada Pension Plan premiums] will cost you the whole shot. There are no Workers Compensation payments [by the employer]. I point out [to them] that they’re not subcontractors, as they’ve been told, but employees. They’ve been helping to drive the wage down. Now that there’s a great demand for skilled workers, it’s time to level the playing field.”

Tuzzi acknowledged that some non-signatory contractors do provide minimal health and welfare benefits and RRSP contributions. But a comparison with the benefits of building trades contract, they fall far short, he said.

Higginson said, “This is the part I love, talking to people. I can give them information on Employment Standards and whether they’re being treated fairly at the work site. The best part of this job is the education.”
Tuzzi says BAC Local 2 has been approaching city councils about establishing fair wage construction programs, selling the merits of a “level playing field” between union and non-union contractors bidding for civic projects. “They can reap the benefits that skilled labour supplies.”

“We’re incredibly optimistic about where we’re going,” he added, citing a “huge support from the membership. We’ve been around for 100 years and we’ll be around for another 100.”